


Game Night At Beacon Academy: Fields of Tankcraft

by Kiiratam



Series: Game Nights at Beacon Academy & Beyond [8]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Canon Compliant, F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-06-25
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24908809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiiratam/pseuds/Kiiratam
Summary: .........(""")-------=............=------(""")...........-========-......................-========-.(O_o_o_o_o_o_O)....................(O_o_o_o_o_o_O)PLAYER ONE READY..............PLAYER TWO?(B4rr3ls0fBl00d)SWITCH TO CO-OP MODEBACK TO SINGLE PLAYER(Takes place between Volumes 1 and 2. (My BMBLB fic index))
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee
Series: Game Nights at Beacon Academy & Beyond [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1482323
Comments: 16
Kudos: 56





	Game Night At Beacon Academy: Fields of Tankcraft

"Hey Weiss, wanna play with me?" Ruby was hoping for Nice Weiss.

  
Looking up from her textbook - Ruby still couldn't believe _that_ qualified as bedtime reading - Weiss checked the screen. "Which one is this?"

  
Ruby tried not to leap off of the floor and jump around. She hadn't said 'no' immediately! Now she just had to make it sound reasonable, and-

  
"It's her barrels game." Yang was sprawled crossways over Blake's bed, feet kicking the air behind her.

  
Ruby corrected her sister. " **Tanks**!"

  
"You're welcome." Yang turned a page in her novel, and Ruby resisted the urge to jump on her sister and really charge her Semblance.

  
Mainly because Blake was also lying in her bed, on top of Yang, reading the next novel in the series. Ruby wasn't sure if they actually had a book club going, or if Yang was just following Blake. Or what was going on with their stacked reading positions, because she had no idea how Blake was comfortable.

  
"Oh." Weiss frowned at the screen, and started to turn back to her book. "I don't think so."

  
"But it's really fun! We don't have to play against each other, there's a co-op mode! " Ruby deployed her secret weapon. "...It could be a partner training exercise?"

  
"Ruby, I..."

  
She was clearly right on the edge. Ruby didn't want to wreck her chances, so she waited. Almost there...

  
"It's just not _realistic_."

  
...Yup, that was a Weiss complaint. "I mean, no, but neither is Fortresses & Froghemoths, and we play _that_."

  
Yang didn't even bother looking up this time. "Hey, when's our next session?"

  
"We get there when we get there! ...And also when Jaune and Pyrrha aren't dying from tests."

  
Weiss switched to her planning face. "We should start studying for midterms specifically. Blake, are you free tomorrow? I want to get started on making review packets."

  
Marking her place in her book with her thumb, Blake turned to Weiss and said, "I figured we were just going to staple all of our study guides together."

  
Ruby followed the conversation back over to Weiss. It was like tennis. Or ping-pong. Or volleyball. Or air hockey. Or... okay, there were a lot of sports like that. Or games. Actually, did volleyball work? It was a team sport, so it wasn't just back and forth, they could pass between team members on the same side. Of the court, obviously they were on the same side because they were on the same team.

  
She realized that she'd let her metaphor (similie? Ruby couldn't remember the difference) get away from her, because Weiss had said something, and then Blake had something else, and then Weiss had made a satisfied nod, and now they were both turning back to their bedtime reading, and Ruby hadn't managed to pay attention to any of it, except for the part when no one had mentioned tanks.

  
"Hey Weiss?" It was definitely a risk asking her again, but Ruby really wanted a co-op buddy. She waited for her partner to look up again - No sigh! Risk evaded! - and waggled her scroll.

  
"Oh. Ruby, it's just not the same as F&F. That takes place in a clearly defined world, with its own rules. This-" Weiss gestured at the screen. "-is just presenting itself as being the real world."

  
Blake cut in. "Verisimilitude."

  
"Whatsitude?" Ruby screwed up her face, not getting it.

  
"Gesundheit." And Weiss' comment didn't tell her anything else. Why describe a fancy word using another fancy word?

  
Yang snorted. Something funny must have happened in her book.

  
"Verisimilitude." Blake said again, not making any more sense that time either. "It's not realism that's the problem. It's that's the game is breaking your suspension of disbelief."

  
Staying silent, Weiss made a go ahead gesture, and Ruby turned back to Blake, not thinking about sports at all this time.

  
"F&F has lots of rules. Orlando can't just sprout wings and go flying around, because that's not how his magic works. It's internally consistent. Complicated, but internally consistent. But Ruby's game-"

  
Ruby resisted the urge to remind everyone that her game had a _name_.

  
"-is operating entirely on the principle that large cars with large guns are cool."

  
They were, though.

  
"And because of that, it's just going to ignore all the reasons why we _don't_ use them in real life."

  
Ruby ran out of silence. "The tech is almost there!"

  
"Just like spaceflight, sis."

  
"That's not the _same_ , Yang! That's because of the properties of Dust! The big problem is that Atlas doesn't make tanks, so no one uses them!"

  
Yang lowered her book to grin at Ruby. "Because...?" 

  
Ruby made a frowny face at her sister, complete with stabby eyes. But she had to admit, with a sigh... "Because the tech isn't there."

  
"I mean, they do look cool. Especially the ones in your game. They look a lot better than the boxy ones that were used during the Great War."

  
"Oh, it's because they got a master armorer to design them! She also makes some amazing Huntress armor that's practically Ursa-proof, even without an Aura."

  
Weiss had her thinking face on. "Didn't you have one of those armored vehicles in Jaune's science fiction game, Yang?"

  
Yang nodded. "Those are pretty much the Great War designs, just in spaaaaace. It's part of retro-aesthetic of the setting." She shrugged. "But really? Why have a tank if you can have a gunship?"

  
"You can put a bigger gun on the tank!" Ruby was _so ready_ for this debate. "And _more_ guns!"

  
"There's more to fights than firepower." Of course, Weiss would say that. "What good does a giant gun do if it isn't mobile?"

  
"But tanks can hit highway speeds! Well, these tanks. The old ones couldn't, but engines have gotten a lot more powerful."

  
Weiss had more holes to poke, though. "What if there isn't a highway? Or the highway is damaged? Or there's a river in the way? Aerial gunships can deal with all of those. So while you're in your tank with your big gun, the battle is happening somewhere else entirely."

  
She, unfortunately, had a point. Ruby tried to seize back the initiative. "What about aggressive maneuvers? If _you're_ attacking, they have to come fight your tank! Or defending! Ground vehicles can have _much_ more armor."

  
"Why put wheels on it at all? Just build a wall and turrets. And who were you planning on attacking with your tanks? Grimm? They're much more agile than a vehicle. And what about mecha? Are we just going to ignore all of their advantages?"

  
Ruby couldn't help but point out, "Their tall profile that makes the easy targets?"

  
Weiss sighed. "And provides an excellent rally point for soldiers, and a signal booster for robotic forces?"

  
"Plus, they've got intuitive controls." Yang had her driver's ed face on. "It's a lot easier to get a commercial-class mecha license than a motorcycle license."

  
"And the military models aren't that different." Everyone turned to look at Blake. "What? I didn't get to drive it."

  
Yang sighed and shook her head. "Hopes dashed."

  
Weiss _really_ looked like she wanted to ask Blake questions, but she deliberately turned to Ruby instead. " _And_ the driver's Aura can protect the mecha a bit."

  
"Yeah, I never got that." Ruby knew she had gaps in her training, because of the years she skipped.

  
Fortunately, Weiss was happy? - Ruby was pretty sure that was her face right now. Satisfied, maybe? - to explain. "It's humanoid - human-shaped. And the mecha functions as armor and weapons. Aura normally extends over those, to a point. It's _your_ gear, so it's a part of you so far as Aura is concerned. Most mecha pilots are specifically chosen for their strong Auras, and trained to push their Aura out as far as they can. Their Aura usually recedes within the mecha at 20% depletion, but it provides a good amount of protection against glancing blows. This reduces the required post-combat upkeep significantly, and pilots are advised to only enter combat when their Auras extend over their mecha."

  
"Right out of the manual." Blake added.

  
"Well, _I_ don't have any practical experience with them." Weiss was getting a little shrill.

  
"Hey sis, I read about a study that's trying to pool Aura from a bunch of different people. If they could find a way to extend that over a tank-"

  
Ruby bounced in place. "Oh, that would be awesome! A whole tank crew projecting a mega-powerful Aura, and working really well together as a team. ...I think there was a comic about that? Zord something. ZordForceFive?"

  
Yang shrugged. "Well, if Weiss doesn't want to play, I will."

  
Turning to look at her partner, Ruby tried to channel Zwei's sad eyes. She really missed her dog sometimes, and she pushed that into making her eyes even sadder.

  
And Weiss did her little half eyeroll and her 'Ruby is a dolt' face, but she pulled out her scroll to play. Ruby would take pity-co-op gaming. "How do we play?"

  
"Do you want to drive, or shoot the big gun?"


End file.
